A FRIENDLY CAT 195 



and added their assistance, but none of them 

 could restore him to safety on a tree. 



While in this unhappy position, he at- 

 tracted the attention of a robin. Now this 

 bird is not very hospitable to strangers; in- 

 deed, he is conspicuously otherwise, but no 

 bird that I ever watched is unfriendly to the 

 young. A baby seems to make the same de- 

 mand upon the tenderness of its elders in the 

 bird-world that it does in the human. The 

 robin recognized the needs of the youngster, 

 and bustled about till he secured a lively earth- 

 worm, which he stuffed into the throat of the 

 sufferer. 



The conduct of the robin was surprising to 

 people not well acquainted with the ways of 

 birds, but still more strange was the effect of 

 the baby's appeal on the family cat. This cat 

 was a great hunter, and when he saw a bird 

 on the ground he started for it with the obvi- 

 ous intention of eating it. On reaching it and 

 seeing its helpless condition, he seemed to ap- 

 preciate the case, and instead of seizing what 

 was to him a tempting morsel, he began to play 

 with the bird, as a cat plays with a kitten. 

 Several times this little drama was enacted, 



